An ace up his sleeve
WBO ranks Casimero No. 4 at super-bantam
JOHNRIEL Casimero makes a rousing return into the world rankins at No. 4 in the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight class.
Photo courtesy of Johnriel Casimero/FB
WBO ranks Casimero No. 4 at super-bantam
JOHNRIEL Casimero makes a rousing return into the world rankins at No. 4 in the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight class.
Photo courtesy of Johnriel Casimero/FB
After two long years, Filipino three-division world champion Johnriel “Quadro Alas” Casimero found his name back in the world ratings.
On the strength of his four-round demolition of Mexican Luis “Pantera” Nery a month ago in Tokoname, Japan, Casimero soared to No. 4 in the super-bantamweight class of the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
The Puerto Rico-based WBO listed Casimero as its No. 4 contender in the Top 15 when the official rankings were released Thursday.
Ahead of him are compatriot Carl Jammes Martin at No. 1, Junto Nakatani of Japan at No. 2 and Sam Goodman of Australia at No. 3.
Below Casimero are Mukhammad Shekov of Uzbekistan (No. 5), Yukinori Oguni of Japan (No. 6), Gabriel Santisima of the Philippines (No. 7), Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan (No. 8), Fillipus Nghitumbwa of Namibia (No. 9) and Shabaz Masoud of the United Kingdom (No. 10).
From Nos. 11 to 15 are Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (Mexico), Jorge Ascanio Martinez (Mexico), Tyrone Buttgieg (United Kingdom), Alex Vallecillo (Nicaragua) and Angel Barrientes (United States).
Naoya “Monster” Inoue of Japan is the WBO champion.
Inoue, who defeated Nakatani in his last fight last May at the Tokyo Dome, is also the champion in the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation (IBF) as well as The Ring magazine.
The Ring also lists the undefeated Inoue as the No. 1 fighter on the pound-for-pound list.
With the 37-year-old Casimero back in the mix, he becomes a candidate to fight for a world crown in the event Inoue decides to defend all four straps again.
His No. 4 rating also makes Casimero a potential figure in the WBO if Inoue goes up in weight and vacates the 122-pound backyard.
Normally, the top two contenders are picked to vie for the vacant throne but those next in line are also considered if the highest-rated are not available.
Casimero, who holds a 36-5-1 win-loss-draw record with 25 knockouts, previously held the IBF light-flyweight and fly titles and the WBO bantam crown.
His manager is fellow three-division titlist Koki Kameda, who has arranged his last four fights, including the Nery massacre at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname last 3 June that catapulted him back into the world ratings.
